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Dear Suzanne:
You are the primary target for infomercials that sell home based exercise equipment. Don’t worry your not alone. These people realize that the average mother of three does not have the time to go to the gym in order to get a workout. They also realize that you will buy their products out of desperation, use them for a month or two and end up selling them for a discount at some yard sale. Therefore they pay a professional athlete or fitness model to hawk their product on TV claiming that they built their world class body in their garage at home. Yea, right!

Let’s not forget that these stars have their own dieticians, personal trainers and the best technology money can buy.

The best advice I can give you is not to waste anymore of your hard earned money on home gym equipment. If it were that easy everybody would work out at home. Instead you need to remove yourself from your responsibilities and go to a gym or health club. I can’t stress how important it is to your physical and mental health to set aside a time and place to work out. The average person won’t be successful at trying to get in shape at home. There are just too many distractions. If you go to a gym you have no choice because everybody else is working out.

I understand how difficult it can be to find time for your self. However your health should be your first priority.

 

How do I get leaner?

Dear George:
It is very important to change the time and intensity of your cardiovascular work out every couple of weeks. Think of your body as a very complicated machine that will adapt to any work out you give it. Therefore you need to throw it a curve ball now and then. Most people figure that if they do a couple days of cardio a week they will get in shape. It's not that simple. If you continue to do the same thing week after week your body will get used to your work out and your results will be minimal.

The problem with work out classes is that they generally don't change that much. Therefore you may need to mix it up a little. Try using different modes of cardio such as the elliptical machine, the treadmill or the Stairmaster. These machines allow you to adjust the time and intensity so your body doesn't get used to your work out. When your cardio work out becomes easier add 5 minutes or turn up the intensity a notch.

As far as your diet goes I would suggest consulting a professional. Book a consultation with a trainer. Most trainers would be glad to sit down with you to talk about eating properly. Let them decide if your diet is healthy. You may think your eating the right foods but maybe your not. You would be surprised at how many people tell me that they don't understand why they can't loose weight because they eat healthy. How do they know? Are they nutritionists?